Sacramento daily record-union. [volume] (Sacramento [Calif.]) 1875-1891, 1887-03-23
The Coercion Bill Brought up in the
House of Commons

House of Commons.
LONDON, March 22d-William Henry
Smith, the Government leader in the
House of Commons, arose amid cheers and
counter cheers this evening, ard moved
that the bill for the amendment of the
criminal law in Ireland have precedence
over all orders of the day. He said the
Government were bound to act under the
advice of public duty, particularly when
they found that juries were intimidated,
and notorious criminals, whose deeds
were inimical to the existence of soci-
ETY., getting off scot free. Mr.. Smith
said he would refrain from stating the de-
tails OF the measure, leaving that to the
Chief Secretary for Ireland. What he
now urged was that the measure was abso-
lutely necessary for the security and happi-
ness of the law-abiding population of Ire
land Referring to the proposed amend
ment offered last night by John Morley, re-
jecting the declaration of urgency for the
Government bill, Mr.. Smith reminded the
House how Mr.. Gladstone resisted the
adoption of a similar amendment in 1881
The position of the Government now
was the same as that of Mr.. Glad
stones Government then. Regard
ing the amelioration policy towards
Ireland, the speaker said that the Govern
ment land bill would be divided into two
parts. One of these would be introduced
Immediately, and the other would be a
land purchase bill. The wide scope of
both measures would be found to be framed
on principles of honesty and justice. The
speaker, however, thought that the Govern
ment could not hope that any measure
framed on these lines would satisfy the
Irish National League, which he said was
\ bo Of ha o-NA onA r-ac
the cause of all the disorganizing and
terrorism pervading Ireland. Smith said
he hoped the House would speedily adopt
the Governments measures.
Balfour, the new Irish Secretary, fol-
lowed Smith, denouncing the National
League and the late Gladstone Govern
ment the policy of which he declared had
been dismal failure.
John Morley, in moving the rejection of
the motion for urgency, denied absolutely
Smiths assertions as to the lawless condi-
ton of Ireland, and demanded that the
Government give the comparative statistics
of crime in Ireland, which he said would
show that beyond a certain very narrow
area the country had seldom been quieter.
The Governments proposed restrictive
legislation would only aggraYate such evils
as existed, and would weaken and spoil
whatever remedies they had in store. The
Land Commission had declared that the
cause of combinations among the people
was their inability of tenants to pay exces-
siye rents. 1t had been shown that Irish
landlords combined the habits of extrava-
gance in emulation of the richer landlords
of England, with the system of frack-rent No
matter how hard the tenants might strive
to meet their rents, this wretched landlord
system crushed them. The coercion pro-
posals of the Government appeared to be
based upon the idea that the people of Ire
land were indolent and dishonest; but
those who knew them had different con-
ception of their character. They believed
them 10 be honest, hald-working and
truthful. He could only regard the bill as
a measure designed to enable landlords to
extort exorbitant rents, throwing the law
on the side of the rich, and removing all
protective power which the tenants derived
from combining, and putting coercion upon
the unfortunate tenants. He was less anxi-
Gus to secure rents for some landlords
than to procure just rent for those
good and honest working people. [Cheers.l
Some landlords practiced plan of cam
paIgn of their own, more immoral and
more deserving of being called a swindle
than was the plan of the tenants. Some
land agents attempted to coerce the tenants
into buying under the Ashburton Act,
debating the terms of purchase and
threatening to evict unless the tenant con-
sented. Yet the Government demanded
urgency for the bill, giving rich men power
to force tenants to pay unreasonable rent,
or to purchase at unreasonable prices.
Behind this bill lay another proposal
that the British taxpayer be security if the
coercion of tenants failed to satisfy the
landlords. 1t was Irish history over
again-moral wrongs pressing upon a
suffering people, without legal remedy.
The wisest policy was remedial legislation
which would destroy the roots of discon-
tent In 1881, when the coercion bill was
passed, the number of evictions rose euor-
mously, and the number of outrages in
creased from 10 in February, 1881, to 40
in January, 1882 and to 531 in March
Hear, hear He doubted whether the ex-
cessive penal laws of the eighteenth CEN
tury did more injury to Ireland than did
the agrarian laws of the present century.
Hear, hear.l To ask for urgency in placing
a law upon the side of the landlords was to
shut the door of hope upon the tenants.
His deliberate conviction was that there
had never been more wanton, gratuitous
and uniustifable resort to the ever falling,
ever poisonous remedy of coercion.
[Cheers.
Balfour accused Morley of bestowing ad-
verse criticism and invectives upon a meas
ure that was as yet unknown. Gladstone
in 1881 told the House to consider not only
the amount of crime, but its character, and
what it was aimed at. The bill had been
forced upon the Government because the
present current of crime was aimed at the
suhvarsion of the laws